Today’s Perfect Moment is not this snowfall that I had ignored during weather forecast part of my morning radio show. Instead, it is my students’ reactions to the snowfall which are the amazing part. It happens every year, but I never fail to get a kick out of it.
In this case, I was teaching a lesson on gerunds and I heard a mild shriek from one of the students, followed by co-ordinating shrieks from the other ones, and a rumble type stampede to the windows in the classroom.
This “storm” started with a small number of flakes, making it more flurry than anything. When I looked out the large window, at first, I couldn’t see any flakes. I had to squint, but I did finally see them. I told myself that it always snows a couple of times before snow becomes an everyday fact of life and Winter really takes over. I’m just not in the mood for winter yet.
As for the students, their responses were both joyous and nervous. They had no idea what would happen. They started asking me all the questions from the “never seen snow, never been in a cold country playbook. They asked me how long the snow would stay for. They asked me if it was going to get even colder. They asked me if it was fun to shovel the driveway–for the record; it isn’t.
There questions, while a tad annoying, really just demonstrate how different the world is. Some of them had never seen snow before and were experiencing like children would. They saw the beauty and they imagined the cold. They enjoyed watching it fall, but they were too scared to go outside and get snowed on.
I don’t look forward to months of slush and wet feet, but I do appreciate seeing your first snowfall. It was Today’s Perfect Moment.
